haven't even fully recovered from the new parasute cast for 2nd gen units yet and they already teased an upcoming anime season! 😭 girlie (me) is so well fed, happy pride! ♡
do you think ran honestly pays the salon he frequently goes to to get his hair done or does he easily get his way through everytime by looking at his stylist straight in the eye, just 0.1839 centimeters away from their face, asking how much it'll cost him in total
"So, what do you say, my dear brother?" Ran smiles sweetly at him. "Will you join me in taking over Roppongi?"
♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡
"Onii-chaaaaan!"
Just like any ordinary day, the younger Haitani prince of Roppongi comes running up to his beloved big brother as the last few rays of the setting sun chase him down to bid a pleasant farewell.
Rindou stops right before crashing into him and doubles over, chest heaving heavily as he gasps for dear air.
Ran rouses from a light afternoon nap beneath the shade of a huge old tree just outside of their current hideout, upon hearing the familiar voice of his only family calling out to him. He raises his sleepy purple eyes upwards, and is greeted by Rindou's overly enthusiastic demeanor.
"Oh, you're awake!" Rindou exclaims.
"I have you to blame." Ran aligns his fingers over his mouth, concealing a lazy yawn. "What do you want?"
"Can you guess?"
"No."
"Aw, onii-chan you're mean!" Rindou complains with a pout of his lips.
"Let's just get this over with, please." Ran yawns again, eyelids drooping even heavier with each passing second.
"Hmph." The younger sibling holds out two freshly plucked stems of purple orchid flowers on the palm of his tiny hand. "Here. I got you these."
Ran gazes at the pretty shade of purple symmetrical petals all clumped up nearly together around healthy long thin stems. He seems a little confused, however. Tilting his head over to one side, he seeks an answer to a question or two. Rindou, as if waiting for this as his cue, breaks into a wide grin and proceeds to get his work done right away.
He assumes his place beside his big brother's favorite napping spot. Ridding first the two orchid stems of any thorns and pricks, he then carefully entwines them into one of Ran's blond twintail braids, all while making sure that each flower sits perfectly upon every other twist and knot in his hair. Such expertised precision, meticulous care, and artistic creativity is put into this project that Rindou couldn't help but place both of his arms on his hips once he's done, evidently pleased at the outcome of his little mission.
"This way, you'll have even more charisma, Onii-chan!"
"Ahh..."
Ran glances down at the enhancements of his already charismatic hairdo and picks up one braid using his thumb and index finger. Twisting it around to examine each knot and petal tied neatly together, as well as the color contrast between the subtle purple against his striking fully blond hair, the eldest sibling thinks this new look of his fairly resembles that of the long-haired fairy tale princess he once showed Rindou when they were but mere toddlers.
What was her name again, thoughーahh...
Rapunzel, was it?
"Hm. Not bad." Ran actually doesn't mind at all. His free hand reaches out to his brother and ruffles the little manbun on his head. "Thanks, Rindou."
"WhaーHey! I just fixed your hair for you, don't go messing up mine, Aniki!" His new hair stylist angrily swats his arm away like a stupid fly.
"Haha. Oh well then," Ran says, rising at last onto his feet and stretches his rather numbing limbs. "Since you got me a present, it is only right that I return the favor as well, no?"
Rindou halts and gasps, eyes behind his round pair of glasses widen like saucers in a heartbeat. "...Really?"
"Sure." The big brother flashes his signature closed-eye smile. "Follow me."
♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡
"Ta-da~"
Ran spreads both his arms up to either side of his torso; gesturing as though presenting the horizon, a landscape of magnificence. Grandeur. And charisma. The catch, however, is that the landscape in question is only visible to him. At least, mentally visible. For what actually lies before his purple set of orchid orbs as of this very moment is nothing but a battered, old-fashioned, and basically dilapidated flat. Noticing a lack of any sort of violent reaction, he glances back from over his shoulder to check on Rindou. The earlier glint in his brother's eyes has been lost in a tragedy.
"Aniki..." Ran's younger half mumbles under his breath, entering through a large man-sized hole where the door probably used to be hinged at, suspiciously eyeing the scratch marks that ripped the fabric and expose the cushions of a dirty couch, while avoiding the broken shards of glass from the windows scattered all over the floor. "Where the hell are we?"
Rindou glares at him with such a grim and puzzled look on his face, Ran starts to wonder if he should've oriented him about all this first. Whoopsies.
"This... This doesn't look nor feel like the Roppongi I know. We've been walking for hours only to get here? How did you even find this wretched place and what exactly are you planning?" Although there is a hint of hesitation on his part, Rindou assumes his typical stance for battle.
Ran lets out a weary sigh. Alright. It's not like he doesn't understand where his brother's concern is coming from. To a normal person, being in a place like this when the faint glow of the full moon upon a starless sky eerily looms over your every move might as well be a decision made by a man who has lost all hope in living and thus gone truly mad. But still, he ought to teach Rindou to trust him a little bit more.
"Oh, my dear, dear baby brother~"
Ran takes a step towards him. Rindou tenses visibly. His big brother instincts tell him not to get any closer in the meantime.
"This is a place I stumbled upon when I was chasing after a stupid grunt who stole the meal I bought you a couple days ago," the big brother explains calmly.
Rindou flinches. "H-Hold on... You heard my stomach rumble at breakfast!? I was sure you were asleep at the table when it happened..."
Ran purses his lips and shrugs. Even without a decent light source, he could easily recognize the familiar tinge of pink on Rindou's cheeks as he averts his gaze away in shame.
"Anyway, I wasn't letting him off the hook so easily. After making sure he's never messing with us again, I found this." He spins around in the middle of all the debris. "I felt a connection to it. There's not much right now, but it won't stay like this for long."
"...What do you mean, Aniki?"
Ran climbs up a hardened heap of dust, mud, soil, and what appears to be decayed wood from the broken legs of abandoned chairs and tables in the flat. Resting one foot atop the little hill, he raises his eyes to heaven and basks in the gentle shine of the moon seeping into a makeshift skylight in the ceiling directly above him.
"Much like us, who presently mean nothing to the world," Ran begins, taking a glimpse at his companion. "I want toーno. We are going to build an empire, Rindou."
The younger Haitani sibling's jaw drops in anticipation.
"This is what I'll be gifting to you. A future where we both stand at the top to rule, reshape, revive the honor and reintroduce our family name.
"So, what do you say, my dear brother?" Ran smiles sweetly at him. "Will you join me in taking over Roppongi?"
A moment of silence. Perhaps to allow the weight of his words to sink in first. Ran closes his eyes and breathes.
"Heh~" A fiery smirk so full of mischief and excitement ignites a new kind of light to Rindou's face. "So this is what all this was about, huh?
"Well, as if I'm letting you hog the spotlight all to yourself, Onii-chan."
As a wave of relief washes over him, Ran helps himself with a laugh of heartfelt gratitude.
"That's the spirit. Thanks, Rindou." He retreats from his little hill and walks toward his little brother instead. Resting his hand on top of his head, Ran gives him gentle pats. "I knew I can always count on you."
"Well, duh. 'Course you can." Rindou puffs his chest proudly. "I'm never calling you my brother again if you refuse to ask for my help."
"Ouch. That's a bit too harsh now, don't you think?" Ran frowns at the hypothetical event of being disowned. "Ahh, but that reminds me."
"Eh? What now?"
Dropping his gaze down to his braids, Ran pulls just the one orchid flower sticking out a little too noticeably from his blond hair due to its particular size. Despite seeing Rindou from his periphery furrow his brows at having his masterpiece slightly ruined, the older brother proceeds to stick the flower he chose into the hairtie holding his little sibling's manbun intact.
"There you go." Ran dusts his palms together in satisfaction. "With this, an orchid's oath between the Haitani brothers has officially been made."
He fetches his phone from his pants pocket and engraves the date displayed on the screen into his brain; bounding him to a promise he'll remember until his last breath.
26TH MAY, 2001
12:01 A.M.
"And the moon shall be our sole witness."
♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡
Ran stirs from that peculiar dream.
Instinctively, he opens his eyesーan imminent horror, an immediate mistake. Snatching his phone from the bedside table, the lit up screen displays an even bigger horror than the nightmare dream he luckily managed to escape from.
26TH MAY, 2005
6:13 A.M.
Rays of morning sunlight shine right through the curtains draped over the windows of his normally dim room. Throwing an extra pillow over his face to somehow salvage his eyesight, Ran lets out a soft groan in disbelief.
Setting aside the fact that I'm a morning person now, what the actual fuck does that even mean? he mentally asks. An omen, perhaps?
He's never been one to admire sunshine and rainbows; much less one who dares to associate anything about himself with it. But then, he'd be making an outright fool of himself if he insists that he's able to describe that nightmare dream using any other word or phrase aside from sunshine and rainbows.
It was only a mere fleeting memory though... or so he recalls. At least, that's what he thought it was going to remain as... until today.
Despite a whole night's worth of sleep deprived fatigue, the older brother forces himself up to leave the comfort of his lovely bed and confide in the one person he trusts his entire life with.
♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡
"Hey, Rindou."
Ran walks into his brother's room. Since the door was left unlocked, he assumes he is free to do whatever he so pleases. Hence, looming over Rindou's wrapped in a blanket, burrito-looking figure still deep in slumber, he (not-so) gently shakes him awake with his slender hand on his shoulder.
"Yo. Wake up, you idiot."
Nothing. Ran runs his long fingers through Rindou's dual-hued hair and tugs at the strands (not-so) gently as well.
He receives a faint whine as an initial reaction, but his baby sibling still remains half-asleep. Ran impatiently rolls his eyes. He raises an arm high up in the air and swings rapidly, directing a slap right across his brother's poor face.
"OW! HUH?"
Rindou jolts up from the shock. As soon as he pries his eyes open to see who he's plotting his next revenge against, he quickly squeezes them shut tightly again after likewise having been blinded by the sunlight shining upon him while Ran holds his deep velvet curtains a tad bit too widely apart.
The big brother clicks his tongue. "Took you long enough."
A long, sleepy yawn rounds the younger sibling's mouth, delaying his reply brimming with utmost confusion and bewilderment. "...Aniki?"
"Rindou. Do you remember the promise we made at that abandoned building, like, maybe eons ago?" Ran turns to look at his brother from over his shoulder.
Rindou stretches one arm up above his head, while his other hand rids his eyes free from the drowsiness that still lingers in his system. "What? Uh... yeah?" He scratches his head. "We said we'll run a club together when we grow up, was it?"
Such thus earns a hearty chuckle from the older brother. "Well, you could say that," he confirms simply with a nod. "Say, you wouldn't happen to mind if we turn that dream into a reality soon enough, no?"
Rindou pauses abruptly. His observant eyes stare right back at Ran's orchid orbs, squinting, as if examining the earnestness of and deducing the motive behind his sudden suggestion.
"What the hell has gotten into you, Aniki?" Rindou asks after quite some time, eyebrows furrowed at the center of his forehead.
"Ahh..."
Ran seems to have snapped back into usual self at last. Perhaps regaining his lost senses, he's become aware of both his cheeks growing warm and flushing red from shame. How stupid must he have looked to his little brother, spouting such uncharismatic, sentimental shit so early in the morning. He hastily tears his gaze away, leaving Rindou to his back instead.
"Nevermind. Forget I said anything."
Trying to keep it cool and save what little dignity remains of his face, Ran decides it's high time to step out of his brother's room at once. He wastes not a single second in heading straight towards the door. That is, until Rindou stops him.
"Onii-chaaan," he says, his voice carrying a tone that evokes a provocative sense of authority, "Don't go believing that I'll forgive you if you ever do something as charismatic as setting up an entire club without me."
And in that same exact moment, the eldest sibling finally understands. Ran first lets out a couple of suppressed giggles, before eventually bursting into a fit of endless laughter. He leans back onto the wall for support once more inside Rindou's room, a hand upon the temple of his tilted head as he allows himself to slide down onto the ground, all the while still chortling to himself quietly in amusement.
"You truly have gotten it from me. That charisma of yours..."
"Heh~" Rindou smirks triumphantly, feeling awfully pleased at himself. "We are the Haitani brothers, after all."
Ran couldn't help the corners of his lips curling upward into a cheeky ass smile. He takes a minute (or two) and breathes, slow and steady. Sharing another meaningful glance with his other half, as if through a telepathic connection between family, he rises to his feet, dusts his shirt with his palms and declares, "Get ready, Rindou. We're about to make a new age of Roppongi delinquency under our still ever so charismatic regime."
And thus is the day that marks the beginning of their journey towards a district's total reformation. But unlike any ordinary day, the sun seems to shine upon Roppongi's eldest Haitani prince a little brighter, warmer, and more steadfast on this brand new early sunlit morning.
